Fantastic day foodies!
I just came back from Manila the other day. I was one of the medics for our contingent in the Aliwan Festival, held in Quirino Grandstand and Aliw Theater last April 27, 2019.
Before we head home, we were given one free day to go wherever we want. Good thing one of my closest friend was in Manila that day, so we decided to meet and visit Fantastic Chef's unlimited Korean barbecue. (Actually, dalawa sila dapat na immeet ko kaso yung isa kong friend sobrang drawing. Haha)
Picture palang guys! Nakakagutom na! Nakakaiyak ang sarap, promise! Kumakain na kami nung nagpicture ako neto so makalat na. Hehe.
Fantastic Chef is located at 1F 590 Remedios Circle, Malate, 1004 Manila, Philippines.
The place is a bit small and can accommodate about 30 pax. Glad we were able to get a table, there was only 1 available left when we arrived. Sorry I wasn't able to ask if they accept reservations. (Ngayon ko lang naisip. Haha)
The place was originally called Galmegi when it was opened last August 2017, then just this January 16th, it was changed to Fantastic Chef.
They are proudly bragging that they're authentic Korean food is prepared by a Michelin awardee and one of Korea's A-list chef. (Well, may karapatan silang magyabang beshies, masarap ang food nila promise. At para dun sa kagaya kong hindi alam ang Michelin, iGoogle nalang natin. Haha)
For those who haven't tried Korean barbecue yet, its basically a famous method of preparing Korean cuisine where food, typically, pork, chicken or beef are grilled on a table with built-in grillers or portable stoves.
Aside from the meat, they also serve lettuce, sauces, kimchi and other side dishes to complete the Korean barbecue experience. Here in Fantastic Chef, I tasted all of the side dishes and it was really good. The sauces are the best. I loved it.
When everything is served, its time for you to grill. You will be provided with tongs and scissors. But don't worry if its your first time and you don't have any idea what to do, the staff of Fantastic Chef are super accommodating. They also check you from time to time to make sure you have everything you need and you're not burning your food (or the whole place). Haha.
There are also exhaust ducts that hangs from the ceiling to keep the smoke out, and these things are movable, wherein you can adjust it closer to the griller when things are getting intense. Haha.
For only ₱499.00 or $10, you will be able to enjoy 10 different kinds of preparation of pork and chicken meat. They have skirt meat, rack, jowls meat, seasoned pork neck, pork belly, thin pork belly, cheek, spicy pork bulgogi, seasoned chicken barbecue, and spicy chicken barbecue.
You will then be asked to pick your first 3 choices of meat, we tried their skirt meat, rack and jowls meat first as seen in the above photo.
You may also add ₱50 ($1), if you want to try their beef plate and seasoned beef plate. That's a total of ₱549.00 or ($11) for all the 12 meat, at unlimited sya bes, super sulit!
After everything is served, its time to grill! The scissors will be used to cut the pork into smaller pieces. It will take about 3-5 minutes before its ready for eating. If cooking is too overwhelming for you, just leave it to your expert friends. After all, that's what friends are for right? Haha.
In Korean barbecue, you start off by taking a piece of lettuce then you get some meat dipped in the sauces, add some side dishes, wrap it up, then you eat the whole thing. Yep, all of it. Haha.
But don't worry if you don't feel eating that way, you can just enjoy the meat and the side dishes with a bowl of rice. They also have available fork and spoon for those who doesn't know how to use chopsticks (like me). Haha.
If you're one of those who haven't tried any Korean barbecue yet, I'm telling you its totally worth your money so please add this to your bucketlist. This whole grilling thingy is just amazing. Haha.
Comparing to my first Korean barbecue experience in Gen's in Mall of Asia, I'd say Fantastic Chef wins in terms of price, food, service and overall experience. Gen's is more spacious and the interior design of the place is very nice and that's only thing I loved about it. Haha.
The food is good also, but the service is very poor. It could be because I think they were understaffed. It takes too long to refill your meat, and they weren't accommodating and friendly. And that's just a major turn off because service is a very very important factor.
Anyways, I'll probably have a separate post about Gen's someday. Haha. All the photos are in my hard drive at nilulumot na sa sobrang dami kong backlogs last year.
So yep, I'm highly recommending Fantastic Chef. Its not as expensive as other Korean Barbecues in Manila, but the food is fantastic. No to mention, the great service and the super accommodating staff.
You may visit their Facebook account, just type Fantastic Chef in the search bar. They have ongoing promos and their contact number is posted just in case you have inquiries.
I will also be putting a Youtube link below if you want to check the mini video clip I made.
By the way, all photos were taken using an iPhone 8 plus and all of them were enhanced in Adobe Lightroom CC App.
I appreciate comments and suggestions on how I can improve my work, please do leave them in the comment section below. Thanks for dropping by, stay fantastic and keep steeming!
